Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno has said that this mutation of the Omicron variant of the corona virus will have a big impact on the Indonesian tourism sector. The government must immediately anticipate the entry of a new variant of the Omicron virus in Indonesia. The reason, This new variant of the virus creates a dilemma for business actors, especially the tourism sector.
World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed this new variant of the corona virus with the code B.1.1.529 into the 'variant of concern' group’ even though the case was only recently discovered. Although it still requires further study, The government has confirmed that it will update the list of countries that may enter Bali and Riau Islands for tourism purposes.
Sandiaga Uno hopes that tourism will continue to run amidst the issue of this omicron variant, and also hope that this issue will not have too much negative impact, because they have prepared mitigation steps. For so far, the omicron variant has not been found in Indonesia. However, With the discovery of the omicron variant in Hong Kong and Belgium, Indonesia needs to be a major concern.
Because of that, We encourage tourism and creative economy actors to increase vigilance. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy said, because the rate of spread is predicted very easily. The focus of the government is to ensure that the control of covid is low under control, to avoid new spike cases, the government implements several policies.
Update the list of countries that can visit Indonesia directly, especially Bali and Riau Islands, That's to avoid a spike in new variants of Covid-19 cases, like what happened in july august 2021. The periodic evaluation of the opening will be coordinated with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Menparekraf also responded to an open letter from the Indonesia Inbound Tour Operators Association (IINTOA) addressed to the government. The open letter put forward a number of proposals to revive tourism in Indonesia. Some of what was conveyed was the reinstatement of visa on arrival, quarantine free for foreign tourists who are fully vaccinated and meet a number of other health requirements, can transit in the hub country for no more than 12 jam, and add some countries to the list that can go to Indonesia.
